


The End Beginning

by Shipper101



Series: IMAGE RWBY au [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: The end is the beginning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 04:39:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8387515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shipper101/pseuds/Shipper101
Summary: Vale is falling, and the Silver Eyed warrior stands against the darkness





	

**Author's Note:**

> Right, 1st things first, MASSIVE AU! I wanted to make an AU to utilise Dane of Celestia's beautiful RWBY AU images. This will be the introduction to what will hopefully be a series of oneshots with an overarching story (a format I am enjoying at the moment). It will be cherry picking the bits of canon I like (From season 3 onwards. Seasons 1+2=HOLY!!!)
> 
> Not really :)

Cinder was there the day the Kingdom of Vale fell. It had taken almost half a decade of planning; constantly training, preparing and learning, and finally it was ready. The android's dismemberment. The Blonde brutes rage induced maiming of Mercury. It had all come down to this. The swarms flooded across Vale, tens of thousands of Grimm. The darkness that accompanied them following like a bow wave of merciless hatred and fear. Even trained hunters turned tail and fled, or else cowered in fear before the darkness. 

And with the darkness came her sisters. The bringers of the end. The heralds of Salem. The three, corrupted maidens. Purest ice, turned traitor and violent, its fury unleashed upon the innocent and defenceless. Life, perverted and twisted, an endless hellscape of unnatural plants and fleshy vines springing forth from the ground, Spring's power turned against the very essences it existed to propogate. The earth itself twisted and railed, churning in violent fury against the unhealthy ministrations of Summer. She had been the last fallen. Autumn's last true sister. Yet now she was true to their mistress. To their goddess. Buildings fell before churning tidal waves of earth and grit. 

And with them came the beasts. The true darkness of Remnant. Salem had always told Cinder that even she, corrupt as she was, had only adopted the darkness. Had only fallen into her role. The Grimm were the true enemy of Remnant. They were the real darkness. A pitch night so endless and deep that no light or hope could penetrate without being flooded and overwhelmed by the endless, all consuming blackness. And now they came, behind the Maidens. A storm of fangs and bone and unnatural sinew. A beast with a hunger to swallow the world.

The hunters fought bravely. They fought beyond the limits of their hope, and then they continued to fight. Trainees fought besides hunters in their prime, who in turn fought alongside their elders, who, ancient and wizened though they were, were still more than a threat. But before the wave, the barrier was shrinking. The line grew ever shorter, the defenders falling, one by one. With the atlesian air fleet demolished, thanks to Mr Torchwick's machinations, there was no escape. No possibility of salvation. No hope of reprieve. 

All would become as dust.

####

Weiss watched as Neon fell. She was crushed beneath the bulk of an Ursa, and even as she tried to rise from its horrific death grip, she was torn apart by a swarm of young nevermore. Her body unable to resist their fangs, even as she screamed in agony. Weiss roared in fury, the brilliant white knight behind her laying about her with its immense sword, carving grimm apart with unstoppable swings of its sword. Even now, however, Weiss could see there were too many. Their line was growing longer and longer. 

Then, from across the city, the world disappeared into an immense, blinding white explosion. 

 

####

Jaune was exhausted now. He and his new, haphazard squad were desperately trying to hold an end of a vale high street side road. Grimm were pressing in from all sides, dozens of fanged, clawing monstrosities, howling and beating at his shield, his sword unable to deal with the multitude of threats. It rose and fell, every time feeling a solid connection as it clove through unknowable sinew and bone plate. No amount of swordsmanship of bladework would allow them to escape an inevitable truth however. There was simply not enough of him. While his immense aura allowed him to hold the line, even given his admittedly limited skill, his companions were not so lucky. What once had been a group of twenty was now composed of a mere four trainees, and a single fully fledged hunter. Raising his sword to strike down the next beast that hammered against his resolute shield, even if the paint was scored and chipped, Jaune was given pause.

An immense sonic boom tore across the city, and all was light

####

Pyrrha rolled as an immense spike of darkness speared up from the ground, directly where she had been standing mere seconds ago. The bleached white woman glowered at her, her eyes glowing a malginant red, even as she gestured at the champion again. Pyrrha had learned at this point that this was an optimal point to not be standing where she was currently standing, and she leaped at the black veined woman, driving Milo towards the dark woman's heart. However, the woman's body dissolved into black vapour, the spear point passing clean through her incorporeal form. The woman's hands, however, seemed to have no such issue, and Pyrrha was hurled to the side as a clammy white backhand caught her in the cheek.

'Foolish girl. I have hungered for this world for centuries. Do you really believe that you, a mere mortal champion, could hope to defeat me?'

Pyrrha gasped for air. The backhanded blow had shattered her aura, while the impact with the wall had broken something.

'I just do the best I can.'

The pale woman began to laugh, only to cut off abruptly with a hiss of anger. Then the world turned to white as a wall of blinding light blasted across the field.

####

Blake raised her blade at the last second, just in time for the bright red metal of wilt to crash into it, causing it to slide off to her left, rather than removing her head from her shoulder's, as the blade's masked wielder had intended. Growling, Adam swung again. Blake wasn't fast enough this time, only catching the blade, rather than deflecting it, and was hurled from her feet for her troubles, crashing into an overturned table.

'Blake. Do you even know how much you hurt me?'

Adam cut a Grimm in half with a single, easy slash of Wilt, before directing the blade at Blake's throat.

'We were going to change the world. We were going to make it a better place. TOGETHER!! Then you ran. You ran from your life. Ran from your responsibilities. To me. To our family. To all our race. So now, I am going to take everything that you love.'

'GET AWAY FROM HER!!'

Yang's shout rang loud across the demolished cafeteria. Adam looked over, to see her eyes glowing red, a blazing inferno surrounding her. Smirking, he sheathed wilt, truning to face the blonde bezerker. Roaring out, Yang charged. 

One slash. Blake screamed, even as the red blur that was Wilt's blade hewed Yang's arm from her body, separating her wrist and gauntlet from her elbow. Grinning maniacally, Adam turned back to Blake.

'And now, you have your last chance. Come with me, or die here.'

'How about a bit of a role reversal?'

Adam's eyes widened beneath his mask, and he whipped wilt round, slashing at the impossible voice. 

The blade clanged uselessley into the atlesian steel of Ember Celica. Grasping the blade, Yang pulled herself close to Adam's masked face, before driving her forehead forwards with all of the aura powered strength she could muster. She felt ceramic crack. Felt bone splinter. Felt a wet spray across her face as shards of Adam's ceramic mask were driven into his unprepared face. His eyes. The ruined, bloody, pulverised mess that used to be his nose. Screaming, Adam stumbled backwards, dropping wilt. Yang slumped down to her knees, before falling to lie face down on the ground.

Blake picked up the red blade. Moving slowly across the room, scraping the blade across the ground, she grabbed Adam by the throat.

'I just wanted you to know. You failed. I am going to kill you. Then I am going to kill your family. And then I am going to end the White Fang once and for all. And you failed to prevent it. You failed to save them'

Adam whimpered gently, before Blake brought down the sword in a savage, decapitating arc. Flesh and bone parted easily, his aura shattered by the force of Yang's final strike. Adam Taurus's head smacked dully against the bloodstained ground. Then, suddenly, all was white.

####

Glynda was strong. She knew she was one of the most powerful huntresses alive in the day. But four against one was tall odds. And these four were far more potent than mere huntsmen. Even with Ozpin, she had been uable to best them, and now the headmaster, vaunted as the single most powerful hunter of the age, was lying in a pile of rubble that used to be residential building, his aura shattered. They had been granted a brief reprieve as the General's flagship had fallen to ground across the centre of vale, finally denying the attackers aerial support, not to mention providing an immensely valuable natural barrier against the hordes. But the maiden's had found them regardless. And Glynda couldn't hold them off any longer.

Looking at the fallen headmaster, Glynda saw him whispering something into the ear of a very scared looking Ruby Rose. The red cloaked girl nodded, before slowly walking towards the maidens. The black haired one smirked, igniting a fireball in her palm.

'Miss Ruby Rose. The legendary silver eyed warrior. Come to die.'

Ruby had a thin smile one her face.

'Everyone dies in the end.'

Then she threw back her head, and a vast explosion of light bloomed around her.

 

####

As Cinder pulled herself to her feet, she looked around. Of teh other maidens, summer had managed to rise already, albeit unsteadily, but the others were still lying upon the ground. Winter was unable to even move her arms. Cinder thought she knew why. Even she could feel it. She felt so... so weak. And she had only inherited her power a few hours ago. Winter had been wielding her powers for centuries, and now they were... not gone, just heavily reduced.

Her thoughts were cut off as she saw Salem approaching. In her grip, the red headed mistrali champion of the Vytal Tournament lay limp, her sword and shield forgotten somewhere else on the battlefield.

'Moon Child, you will surrender. Or this mortal will suffer the consequences of your actions.'

Cinder frowned before turning to look at what her mistress was speaking to. Upon seeing it, she gasped. Ruby was hovering about ten feet in the air, vast white wings framing her small body, seeming to stretch beyong the horizon. In her had she held an immense, fifteen foot long scythe, seemingly made out of pure white light.

'Everyone dies.'

The words were barely even a whisper, yet somehow they carried across the incredible silence of the city. Wait, silence.

Cinder cocked her head, but she couldn't hear anything. No howls of grimm. No gunshots. Nothing. Looking around, where once there had been an unmatched army of grimm, there was now only shining white dust, blown about by ethereal forces.

Snarling, Salem gestured at the floating girl. The Maidens rose to theri feet, feeling the compuslion of their mistress, and waked swiftly forward towards the girl.

Winter fell in seconds, her top half removed from her bottom. The Spring Maiden was next, incinerated in a burst of dust augmented light. Cinder could see their folly. They had not truly fought in decades. They didn't know the first thing about real fighing. She and Summer leaped towards the angelic girl, Summer's bladed chain whipping out. Ruby smashed it to shards with a single blow of her scythe, before reversing her grip and driving the pole through Summer's chest. It punctured straight through her ribcage, bursting forth from her back in a fountain of tainted lifeblood.

Before Cinder could even move, she felt a strong hand around her neck. Ghasping for air, she looked wildly around, seeking help she knew wouldn't come. Emerald and Mercury had been sent off to ensure the white fang remained on the right side, and Cinder's only ally was Salem, who was even now addressing Ruby.

'You cannot sustain that level of output. Your body isn't developed enough. You are burning out.'

Ruby slowly sank to earth, Cinder still firmly in her grasp, her eyes still glowing with white fire. Drawing her mechanical scythe, she held it to Cinder's throat.

'Pyrrha for Cinder'

Salem laughed.

'And then allow you to destroy us both, I...'

Salem's words were cut off by a hoarse scream. Salme dropped Pyrrha, stumbling backwards. Somehow, Pyrrha had managed to drive a bronzed knife into Salem's chest. Salem's screams became louder and louder, before, in a vortex of darkness that hurled Pyrrha into a wall, knocking her into sleep, she exploded.

Cinder used the distraction, wrapping her legs around Ruby's arm, and kicking away from the angel. A misjudgement caused Ruby's scythe to score a great gash cross her chest, but she made some distance, before turning to face Ruby. To say she was suprised was an understatement.

Ruby was rising into the air, a vortex of light surrounding her. Her head was thrown back, and she began to scream as the light grew brighter and brighter. In a huge explosion, the gathered light exploded outwards in a radial blast, spears of pure light shooting across all points on a compass. Ruby fell back to earth with a sickeningly wet splat.

####

The evacuation of Vale was completed three days later. From witness reports, General Ironwood was able to gather a list of the missing and dead. Blake Belladonna and Pyrrha Nikos had vanished immediately after the explosion of white light; something he had discovered was now dubbed, 'The Purification'. They had both been clearly accounted for before hand, which made their disappearance even more of a mystery. Adam Taurus's head had been delivered to Ironwood's HQ a few days after the attack, and while Yang Xiao-Long took worryingly gleeful credit for the mutilation, the actual executioner was unknown. To be honest, Ironwood was unwilling to care. Mr Schnee had arrived to spirit Weiss away back to Atlas very shortly after evacuation was completed, and Miss Xiao-Long had fallen into a staggering depression at the loss of both her partner and her sister.

Ruby Rose. The one who had saved them all. Her body had been irrecoverable after the so called purification, it having disappeared while Glynda and Ozpin were unconsious. The capture of miss Fall proved enlightening, while Miss Sustrai and Mr Black were slightly more... resistant. Mr Torchwick proved remarkably willing to surrender. Only the loss of an entire kingdom made this a tragedy rather than a suprising victory.

####

Weiss sat on the plane with her father. She had been furiously holding back tears for hours now. 

She had been too weak. Too weak to save Ruby. Too weak to protect her team. She would never be weak again.

####

Blake all but purred as she drove Wilt through the Lieutenant's throat. There was an enjoyable irony, to be killed by the weapon of your beloved leader. After dropping Yang off, she had prowled the city, hunting down any remaining white fang. A predator in the night.

And now the beast was moving to a new hunting ground

####

Jaune knelt before the robed figure. The glowing golden light behind the man shilouetting him, and granting him a halo of sunlight.

'And here we initiate you, Knight Jaune of Solios!!'

####

The world was dark. The world was cold. All around her, the girl could see burning candlelights. Flashes of life and heat and warmth. Within her gut her hunger grew.

A hunger that would be sated.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! Any comments please make noise!! Good or bad, I like both (I am a masochist sometimes :) )
> 
> I will be adding new bits sparingly until I finish my other series, Tales of the Organisation (Which, hopefully, will run for a while longer)
> 
> Anyway, Please tell me what you think. All comments are good comments, and I do try to reply, so if you are unsure about anything, just give me a holler.


End file.
